On Sunday, April 26, 2026, Sabastian Sawe of Kenya ran 26.2 miles in one hour, 59 minutes and 30 seconds.
He became the first person in history to complete an official marathon in under two hours, an achievement that athletes and scientists had debated for decades, that Eliud Kipchoge had approached in a specially arranged exhibition in 2019 without crossing the threshold, and that many in the sport still believed was years away.
Sawe crossed the finish line at the TCS London Marathon on The Mall, sprinting past Buckingham Palace in dry, sunny conditions, and looked up at the clock. “When I got to the finish line, I saw the time and I was so excited,” he said.
Paula Radcliffe, the former London Marathon winner and British distance running legend, was watching from the BBC commentary booth. “The goalposts have literally just moved for marathon running,” she said.
They had.
What Did Sawe Achieve?
The 2026 London Marathon men’s field was assembled specifically for speed.
The lead group, featuring Sawe, Ethiopia’s Yomif Kejelcha, Uganda’s Jacob Kiplimo, Olympic champion Tamirat Tola, 2022 London winner Amos Kipruto, and Deresa Geleta, went through the first five kilometres in 14:14, a pace equating to 2:00:03 for the full distance.
They were on the edge from the opening mile.
The group stayed together through 10km (28:34) and 15km (43:10), arriving at halfway in 1:00:29. To finish under two hours, Sawe needed the second half in under 59:31. He ran it in 59:01.
The decisive move came between the 30 and 35-kilometre marks. A 13:54 split over that five-kilometre stretch pulled Sawe and Kejelcha clear of the rest of the field, dropping Kiplimo into third.
The leading pair then accelerated again over the next five kilometres, covering them in 13:42 as the possibility of a sub-two-hour finish became increasingly real.
With two kilometres remaining, Sawe made his move. He separated from Kejelcha and pressed on alone, running down The Mall with the crowds lining the course and crossing the line in 1:59:30.
“I feel good, I’m so happy. It is a day to remember for me,” Sawe said. “For the new generation, to run a record is possible. Everything is possible with a matter of time.”
The result was one of the most stacked finishes in marathon history. Kejelcha crossed second in 1:59:41, the second-fastest marathon in history, the fastest marathon debut ever recorded, and an Ethiopian record.
Kiplimo finished third in 2:00:28, a Ugandan record that would also have broken the previous world record set by the late Kelvin Kiptum at the 2023 Chicago Marathon.
Kipruto was fourth in 2:01:39. The top six finishers all set best marks for their finishing position in London’s history.
Why This Is Different From What Kipchoge Did
Eliud Kipchoge, widely considered the greatest marathon runner in history, ran 1:59:40 in Vienna in October 2019. He became the first human being to cover the marathon distance in under two hours. He was celebrated worldwide.
His time does not appear in the official world record book.
The Vienna run was not an official race. It was a specially arranged event called the “1.59 Challenge,” organized by British billionaire Jim Ratcliffe, now co-owner of Manchester United.
The course was a six-kilometre circuit. Kipchoge was supported by rotating pacemakers who joined and left the race at intervals, not permitted under official competition rules.
The conditions were engineered specifically to produce a fast time rather than reflect the realities of competitive marathon racing.
World Athletics did not ratify the result as a world record because it did not meet the criteria for an official race. Kipchoge’s official world record remained at 2:01:39 until Kiptum ran 2:00:35 in Chicago in 2023.
What Sawe did in London is categorically different. The TCS London Marathon is a World Athletics Platinum Label road race, the highest designation in the sport. The course is a regulated point-to-point route.
Sawe competed against other elite athletes under standard race conditions. The pacemakers used in the early stages are permitted under World Athletics rules.
The result is fully ratified. Sawe’s 1:59:30 is the official marathon world record, the first official sub-two-hour marathon in human history.
The Record He Broke
The previous official world record was 2:00:35, set by Kelvin Kiptum at the Chicago Marathon on October 8, 2023. Kiptum, a Kenyan runner of extraordinary talent, died in a car accident in Kenya in February 2024 at the age of 24, a devastating loss for the sport.
His record stood for nearly two and a half years.
Sawe’s 1:59:30 beats Kiptum’s mark by 65 seconds, one of the largest single improvements to the men’s marathon world record in the modern history of the sport.
For context, at the turn of the century the fastest men’s marathon ever run was 2:05:42, set by Khalid Khannouchi in Chicago in 1999. The record has been reduced by more than six minutes in 27 years.
Who Is Sabastian Sawe?
Sabastian Kimaru Sawe is 30 years old and was born in March 1995 in a remote highland village in western Kenya’s Rift Valley, a settlement that had no electricity when he was growing up.
He was raised largely by his grandmother. His uncle, Abraham Chepkirwok, represented Uganda in the 800 metres at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, giving Sawe an early example of what elite competition looked like.
A teacher told him early in his running development, “Running is not just talent, it’s your fortune and your future.”
He trains at a high-altitude camp in Kapsabet in western Kenya, living in shared quarters with other athletes. He sees his wife and son approximately twice a month. He is coached by Italian trainer Claudio Berardelli.
He is sponsored by Adidas. He is described by coaches and fellow athletes as calm, analytical, and deeply focused, he keeps an almost entirely low profile away from competition.
His marathon career began at the Valencia Marathon in December 2024, where he ran 2:02:05 on debut, the second-fastest debut in marathon history, behind only Kiptum.
He won the London Marathon in April 2025 in 2:02:27, then the Berlin Marathon in September 2025 in 2:02:16. On Sunday he won London again in 1:59:30.
He is now four for four in the marathon, undefeated in 26.2 miles in his career.
The Step He Took To Prove He Is Clean
The context of Sawe’s achievement cannot be fully told without discussing what he did before the Berlin Marathon in 2025.
Kenyan distance running has been shadowed by doping scandals in recent years, with multiple athletes receiving suspensions from the Athletics Integrity Unit.
The cloud over Kenyan athletics is real and has raised questions about extraordinary performances across the sport.
Sawe addressed this directly. Before Berlin, he and his management team proactively approached the AIU and asked to be subjected to as many out-of-competition drug tests as possible.
He underwent 25 tests, an unprecedented number for any athlete in the lead-up to a single race. Adidas contributed $50,000 to cover the cost of the enhanced testing program, with individual tests costing upwards of $2,000 each.
Brett Clothier, Head of the AIU, described the initiative as an example for the sport. “It’s really encouraging for our sport that this special program has taken place,” he said. “It’s an athlete that initiated it, supported by his management team and his sponsor.”
Kejelcha, who finished second at the London Marathon on Sunday, praised Sawe’s approach after the race. “It’s very important for clean sport. Maybe I, for the future, will do the same thing. I think it’s a great idea.”
Sawe arrived at the start line of the 2026 London Marathon as a defending champion, a two-time major marathon winner, the most tested athlete in recent marathon history, and the man who appeared most likely to finally push the world record below two hours. He left as the person who actually did it.
“What comes for me today is not for me alone but all of us in London,” he told the BBC.
